Glenn A. Baker

Glenn A. Baker (28 July 1952 – 31 July 2026) was an Australian journalist, historian, commentator, author and broadcaster known for his vast knowledge of rock music. He wrote books and magazine articles on rock music and travel as well as album sleeves, interviewed celebrities, managed bands such as Ol' 55 as well as co-founding local record label Raven Records and promoting tours of international stars.

Baker was the Australian editor of Billboard for over 20 years. In the mid-1980s, he took the BBC's "Rock Brain of the Universe" crown three times. He won the inaugural Australian Travel Writer of the Year award in 1995 from the Australian Society of Travel Writers and again won the award in 2000.

Early life and education Glenn A. Baker was born as Glenn Bake (He added the A.) himself as a teenager, in a bid to make his name more memorable: "because the guy who toured the Rolling Stones the first two times and staged the musical Hair was called Harry M. Miller. And I thought, 'You know, people probably wouldn't remember a bloke called Harry Miller, but they do remember Harry M Miller'." He grew up in Coogee, New South Wales, until he was nine when the Bakers relocated to Canberra. Baker introduced chartered accountant Peter Brian to the band and he became their versatile front man known as Frankie J. Holden; in October, Baker recruited saxophone player Nick Aitken who performed as Wilbur Wilde.

Baker left public service and was employed by Festival Records, where he wrote sleeve notes. At this time he also began collecting rock music memorabilia, amassing a huge amount over the years.

Raven Records was an Australian label established in 1979 by Baker, Kevin Mueller, and Peter Shillito, specialising in reissues and retrospectives. Raven Music ceased activities in 2017.

Baker's radio career started by hosting a music trivia program on Sydney radio station 2JJ (soon to become Triple J) and moved on to the Triple M network. he collaborated with King on several music and travel books, September 2010 saw the simultaneous release of two of his books – Best of Baker: Music and Best of Baker: Travel. and was a television and radio presenter, He was heard as an in-flight presenter on Qantas over a period of around 20 years.

Over his career, Baker authored or edited 17 books, and wrote sleeve notes for more than 600 albums, and visited around 150 countries. His music collection comprised around 80,000 records and 30,000 CDs.

Recognition and awards Baker was a member of the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame advisory committee, In this role he inducted Max Merritt, Australian Crawl, the Masters Apprentices, and Billy Thorpe into the ARIA Hall of Fame. In the mid-1980s, Baker took the BBC's "Rock Brain of the Universe" crown three times. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Queen's Birthday Honours List in June 2018, "For significant service to the entertainment industry through promoting, preserving and documenting popular music culture".

Personal life

Baker was married to Lorelle for 36 years, whom he credited with enabling him "to do so many things", before separating in 2009. They had six children. One of their sons is Tristan Baker, who played guitar and laptop in the band Slimey Things, which formed in 2001 and who described their music as "sci-fi pop". The band released several albums, their last one, Goodbye Earth, being released in August 2016. Another son is actor Rudi Baker, who is known for his work in Australian film and television.

Death and legacy In later life, Baker experienced several health issues including a stroke and a broken hip (which occurred when he was carrying a heavy box of records).

Jimmy Barnes wrote that he would miss Baker for "his insights, incredible knowledge, and our conversations about music whenever we met", adding that Baker was the first person he would consult whenever he needed to know anything about Australian music history. Canadian music journalist Eric Alper wrote after his death: